Trellis Wealth Advisors, LLC (the “Firm” or “Trellis”), which has been in business since November 2010, provides
investment advisory services primarily to individuals and families. Trellis is owned and operated by four
members (Kevin Okimoto, Mark Thompson, Scott Whitcher and Carrie Miller).
Trellis aims to be highly involved with its clients and assume an active role beyond actual investment
management. Trellis may help educate clients about investments in general, provide clients an understanding
of what they own and why they own it, and/or assemble a consolidated view of a client’s overall investments.
Trellis and the client agree on the investment objectives, guidelines and strategy after considering various factors
such as the client’s investment time horizon, need for income, tolerance of volatility, growth objective, other
assets, and total asset size. Trellis constructs and implements an agreed-upon investment portfolio and then
monitors, rebalances, and reports on the portfolio on an ongoing basis. All client situations are evaluated
individually and all client investment plans are custom, including accommodating for client-imposed restrictions
on certain securities, certain sectors, certain types of securities, or in limited circumstances, which broker-dealer
to employ for securities transactions.
Trellis adheres to an investment approach which focuses on long-term strategic asset allocation versus short-
term tactical asset allocation and market timing. Trellis employs more of a passive buy-and-hold approach versus
an active trading-oriented approach. Trellis generally invests in broad-based, low-cost, passively-oriented
mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) vehicles versus investing directly in individual stocks and bonds.
Discretionary Account Services
Trellis generally manages client accounts on a discretionary basis. Under a discretionary agreement, Trellis has
full discretion and authority to invest client assets without client trade authorization, subject to client investment
objectives and constraints. Trellis will generally determine which securities are to be purchased and sold, the
total amount of securities to be purchased or sold, the broker or dealer through which securities are to be
purchased or sold, the commission rates in connection with any security purchases or sales, and which
transactions are to be effected for the account
involved. A client grants discretionary authority to Trellis via the
Investment Advisory Agreement (“IAA”).
Non-Discretionary Account Services
In limited circumstances, certain client accounts or certain assets within a client account may be managed on a
non-discretionary basis. Under a non-discretionary arrangement, the client receives advice from Trellis and then
decides whether or not to follow the Firm’s advice.
Unsupervised Assets
If specified by a client, certain assets that are not subject to the Firm’s investment management authority may
be held within that client’s managed account. These assets are under the direct supervision of the client and are
not subject to an investment management fee. Trellis documents and tracks any instances in which unsupervised
assets exist.
Retirement Plan Services
Trellis offers advisory services to employer-sponsored retirement plans including 401(k), profit sharing and
403(b) plans. Services include plan-level services (fiduciary best practices) and investment services (investment
advice and investment management). Trellis offers the same investment approach to plan clients as it does for
other clients.
Trellis Wealth Advisors, LLC Page 5 of 14 Updated March 26, 2024
Retirement Account Advice
When Trellis provides investment advice to a client regarding their retirement plan account or individual
retirement account, Trellis is a fiduciary within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income
Securities Act (“ERISA”) and/or the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), as applicable, which are laws governing
retirement accounts. The receipt of an advisory fee for making a recommendation creates a conflict of interest
under ERISA/IRC, so Trellis operates under a special rule that requires it to act in a client’s best interest and not
put our interest ahead of the client. For example, if Trellis recommends that a client roll over assets from one
retirement account to another and will receive increased compensation as a result of that recommendation,
Trellis has a conflict that requires the Firm to operate under this special rule.
Trellis manages client assets in both discretionary and non-discretionary accounts on a continuous and regular
basis. As of December 31, 2023, the total amount of discretionary assets under our management was
$346,609,568 and non-discretionary assets under our management were $4,210,199.